Three things to look for in Chelsea vs Everton: Rafa’s return

Chelsea welcomes Everton to Stamford Bridge on Thursday for a clash between two struggling sides. The latter has started off the season quite slowly, managing just five wins from its opening 16 matches. This has the Toffees sat all the way down at 14th in the table following a 3-1 drubbing at the hands of Crystal Palace. Chelsea loanee Conor Gallagher scored two sensational goals to bury Everton on the night, shortly before his parent club gets its shot at the struggling squad from Merseyside. Meanwhile, the Blues have a fair share of their own issues. They haven’t dropped many matches lately—just one in their last five—but they have been letting in goals for fun. This has seen Chelsea’s form take a hit as it dropped to third in the Premier League and allowed Juventus to take first place in the Champions League’s Group H.

Thomas Tuchel and his men will welcome Everton as one of their best chances to regroup before the turn of the new year. The Toffees are undoubtedly one of the most underwhelming sides in the English top flight this season, but that’s not to say it’ll be a walk in the park for the hosts. After all, the Blues struggled to overcome a Leeds side at home that got thrashed 7-0 by Manchester City just a few nights later. Everton has been a thorn in their side over the last few years, all of those games coming at Goodison Park though. Can the Toffees finally get a win in SW6 or will the Blues reestablish their stubborn defense en route to a huge three points?

Here are three things to look for in Chelsea’s bout with Everton on Thursday:

1. Rushed returns?

A lot has been made of the Blues’ recent struggles. There have been a few explanations for their downtick in form, everything from the over-performing xG finally catching up to them to too many injuries. The latter is one of the big talking points ahead of the Everton clash because Tuchel has a handful of decisions to make regarding returning players.

Trevoh Chalobah (picked up a knock against Watford) and N’Golo Kante (injured versus Juventus) returned to the team for the first time in a few weeks to take part in training on Tuesday. Tuchel has spent an abundance of time making note of Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Jorginho’s struggles with fitness lately as they play through some discomfort. It seems too early to reintroduce either Chalobah or Kante back into the starting XI on Thursday after just two days of training with the squad. Nevertheless, he may not have an option. The coaching staff needs to manage minutes effectively, especially throughout the congested winter period, in order to avoid long-term injuries within the team. Whether he’ll rush either of the aforementioned players back into the side or not remains to be seen, but it’s definitely something to keep an eye on.

Kante would more than likely be the one to return, if either player comes back into the starting line-up. Chalobah has only played in midfield during emergency situations this season, which is why he was moved there at halftime against Watford. Otherwise, Tuchel has made it clear he sees a future for the England under-21 as a centerback. The Blues are actually relatively healthy along the back line with all four players ahead of Chalobah in the pecking order (Cesar Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen, Antonio Rudiger and Thiago Silva) fit at the moment.

Tuchel is seemingly going to have to determine who is at greater risk of reinjuring themselves midweek, Jorginho or Kante. Regardless, he’ll be faced with a handful of fitness decisions ahead of the Everton clash on Thursday evening.